Dr. Loh’s science is a new biomarker technology that uniquely measures the progression and aggressiveness of a patient’s cancer. This biomarker also predicts recurrence and metastasis in various cancers, including liver, colorectal, adrenal and lung cancer.

An important application of this biomarker would be its use in clinical trials to better evaluate each patient as to the aggressiveness or progression of their cancer. This is important because this biomarker has shown that some patients who are ‘traditionally’ categorized as Stage 1 cancer, are actually harboring an underlying disease which is much more aggressive than expected. This could explain why some patients who have been previously diagnosed as Stage 1 actually have an earlier mortality (death) than expected.

In clinical trials, this biomarker could more effectively stratify the patients who are entered into the clinical trial. And, importantly, over the course of the therapeutic regimen, this biomarker could be utilized to test the responsiveness of the cancer to therapy or treatment.

For those interested in working with Dr. Loh to bring this biomarker to predict cancer recurrence to the market, please contact Dawn Van Dam, President of One Million Solutions in Health to be put in touch with the appropriate NIH contacts.

To increase awareness and understanding of NIH technologies among potential partners in the life science and healthcare industries, the Signature Square™ program brings together Subject Matter Experts to evaluate new or established scientific technology.

In Dr. Loh’s case, the experts were from pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic companies, along with other academic scientists from around the world who evaluated this biomarker to predict cancer recurrence.

The Signature Square is an opportunity for technology or service providers to receive direct evaluations and feedback which can then be used to inform potential investors, end users and/or partners. It can also be utilized as a component towards understanding the technology or service and its potential to contribute to health care. The evaluation is based on several criteria that summarize a new or established technology’s Market Readiness and Value Proposition to the Marketplace. The final outcome of each evaluation results in a ranking: Blockbuster, Upstart, Novel or Innovator.

“The Signature Square program provides an opportunity for Subject Matter Experts to be brought together from all corners of the globe in order to validate a technology in a virtual meeting space,” says Dawn Van Dam, CEO and President of One Million Solutions in Health. “Without validation, it is difficult for a new science or technology to launch into the marketplace. The Signature Square program brings new solutions to the table and ultimately helps expedite the development of commercially-available scientific technology.”

Dr. Loh received positive and constructive feedback from the industry, which will allow her to continue to develop her science and find partners to bring it to commercial use. Highlighted in Dr. Loh’s final report are the summarized ‘next steps’ and recommendations from the Subject Matter Experts. For example, one respondent indicated: “I think the greatest benefit is potentially to patients as a tool used by physicians in practice once validated/approved for this use.”

Alternatively, if you would like to see the details of the full Report and a recording of the Signature Square™ presentation, please contact us for more details on how individuals or companies can join the Technology Evaluation Consortium™ and have full access to all of our Signature Square™ evaluations.

ABOUT ONE MILLION SOLUTIONS IN HEALTH

The goal of One Million Solutions in Health™ is to shape health care by sharing solutions and, importantly, to accelerate the discovery, development and delivery…of innovative cures, treatments and preventative measures for patients around the world.

In this next year, we will be reviewing 1000’s of new solutions and new scientific discoveries. By engaging scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, industry experts, health care professionals, and patients across various disciplines, and from around the world, we can utilize the power of the internet to disrupt things in a positive and transformative way to accelerate the movement of new solutions and scientific discoveries from the scientist to the patient.

We are on our way towards accelerating high-potential innovations, catalyzing investment and increasing awareness of, and support for, transformative ideas to improve health and save lives. By facilitating efforts to ensure organizations can Connect, Learn + Share, Innovate and Collaborate, our vision is to improve health care delivery, accelerate life sciences research and share patient and consumer-focused ideas and solutions.

As a not-for-profit, we welcome your participation and are thrilled to have you be a part of this transformative journey!

ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION CONSORTIUM

The Technology Evaluation Consortium™ from One Million Solutions in Health™ is dedicated to improving and accelerating life sciences R&D and health care outcomes. The Technology Evaluation Consortium brings together life sciences and/or health care companies and industry vendors or scientists, and other relevant partners (e.g., government and Universities), to evaluate and validate technologies or services in a collaborative environment.

The model empowers technology providers/scientists and industry end-users to collectively assess a number of solutions in a cost-effective manner, producing a depth and breadth of results that no company can achieve alone. Our mission is to triage and streamline new technology consideration for the industry and to be the place for the industry to conduct their evaluations and validations.

ABOUT DR. PENG LOH

Dr. Y. Peng Loh is the head of the Section on Cellular Neurobiology, Program on Developmental Neuroscience, NICHD. She and her group study the cell biology of endocrine and neuroendocrine cells, focusing on the mechanisms of biosynthesis and intracellular trafficking of peptide hormones and neuropeptides and their processing enzymes, the regulation of dense-core secretory granule biogenesis, and the physiological roles of the prohormone processing enzyme carboxypeptidase E, and peptides derived from the neuroendocrine protein , chromogranin A. Her studies have elucidated molecular mechanisms governing protein trafficking to the regulated secretory pathway and identified players and mechanisms that control secretory granule biogenesis and transport in endocrine and neuroendocrine cells and neurons. Her research has also provided a better understanding of diseases such as diabetes, obesity and neurodegeneration.

Recently, she and her team have discovered a splice isoform of the enzyme, carboxypeptidase E (CPE-ΔN) that is highly expressed in different types of metastatic tumor cells and is an inducer of tumor growth and metastasis. Clinical studies so far have shown that CPE-∆N is a very promising powerful biomarker for predicting future metastasis, and a potential therapeutic target for different malignant cancers.